Seizing on Sam Pitroda’s tax remarks, Modi says Congress threatens family inheritance

Referring to Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda’s remark that the inheritance tax in the US was an idea that could be debated and discussed in India too, Modi, addressing a rally in Surguja in Chhattisgarh, targeted the Gandhi family and the Congress.

“The advisor to the royal family prince, and advisor to the father of the prince, has said more taxes should be imposed on the middle class. Now these people have gone a step further. The Congress now says it will impose an inheritance tax. That it will impose tax on the inheritance received from parents. The property you have accumulated through your hard work will not be given to your children. The Congress claws will snatch that too from you,” he said.

“The Congress mantra is: Congress ki loot, zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi. As long as you are alive, Congress will impose higher taxes, and when you are no longer alive, it will burden you with inheritance tax. Those who considered the entire Congress party as their ancestral property and handed it over to their children don’t want Indians to pass on their property to their children,” he said.

Modi’s remarks came after Pitroda said, “In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies, he can only transfer probably 45% to his children and 55% goes to the government. That’s an interesting law… In India, you don’t have that. If somebody is worth 10 billion and he dies, his children get 10 billion and people get nothing… So, these are the kinds of issues people will have to debate and discuss.”

As his comments came under fire, Pitroda clarified: “Who said 55% will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India? I mentioned inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV… This has nothing to do with the policy of any party, including Congress.”

The Congress, meanwhile, scrambled to distance the party from his comments. In a post on X, party leader and MP Jairam Ramesh wrote, “Mr Pitroda expresses his opinions freely on issues he feels strongly about. Surely, in a democracy an individual is at liberty to discuss, express, and debate his personal views. This does not mean that Mr Pitroda’s views always reflect the position of the Indian National Congress. Many times they do not. Sensationalising his comments now and tearing them out of context are deliberate and desperate attempts at diverting attention away from Narenda Modi’s malicious and mischievous election campaign; that is anchored only in lies and more lies.”

In Madhya Pradesh, where the PM spoke later in the day, he reiterated that the Congress wanted to redistribute wealth and introduce an inheritance tax.

He was speaking at campaign rallies in Sagar and Betul districts, which have a substantial population of SC and ST voters, respectively.

He also referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s frequent comparisons between a caste census and an X-ray: “Congress wants to conduct an X-ray and find out what is in your lockers.”

“In our country, even grandparents save something, they never spend it themselves. They have in mind that when their grandchildren grow up, it will be useful in their marriage… Tell me about the property that your ancestors left for you. Now, the Congress says that you cannot give your property to your children. If the Congress government is formed, it will legally loot the property of the poor,” he said.

Speaking in Kochi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah also attacked the Congress over Pitroda’s comments.

“The Congress is completely exposed. First of all, mention of ‘survey’ in their manifesto, Manmohan Singh’s old statement which is Congress legacy – that minorities have the first right over resources of the country – and now Sam Pitroda’s remark citing the US that there should be deliberations on the distribution of wealth… Now, when PM Modi raised this issue, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and the entire Congress party are on the backfoot that it was never their motive. But today, Pitroda’s statement has made Congress’s motive clear before the country. They want to survey the private property of people of the country, make it government property, and distribute it as per a decision during UPA’s regime. Congress should either withdraw it from their manifesto or accept that it is indeed their intention.”

Simultaneously, BJP leaders reiterated the claim that the Congress had attempted to give reservation meant for SCs, STs and OBCs to Muslims.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while accusing the Congress of attempting to impose “Taliban law” on India, said, “The manner in which they tried to loot the SCs, STs and OBCs of their reservation is clear from the Ranganath Misra Committee that tried to snatch the rights of SCs and STs and give it to some specific group. Even the Sachar Committee tried to give part of the rights of SCs and STs to Muslims. That is the purpose with which the INDI Alliance wants to come to power. They will first undertake a caste census, divide Hindu society, and then snatch away the reservation of SCs and STs and give it elsewhere.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also said that the UPA government had constituted the Ranganath Misra and Sachar committees with the aim of preferential treatment for a particular community.